There is much that goes into creating a documentary. Numbers upon numbers upon numbers. Here are a few to represent Honor In the Air.
In 2024, more than 1700 people viewed Honor In the Air at over 30 showings. These screenings were at film festivals, public libraries, Veteran group meetings, EAA chapters, historical societies, schools and more. Our team traveled to northern, southern, eastern, western and central Wisconsin communities as well as South Carolina, California and Tennessee.
We began working on this film in 2021 - during COVID shut down. But we didn't let that stall us. We did background research online and by phone and began fundraising while we waited for the opportunity to begin filming interviews.
Eventually we filmed fourteen interviews, at about an hour of footage each. We also reviewed over 50 hours of archival footage, countless photos and documents, and filmed a little more footage and narration to fill in the gaps.
Next came the challenge of condensing 110 pages of transcripts down to a 30 page script to tell a condensed yet compelling story. It took hours of intense work to do this, but we made it. We worked with a composer/musician on original music. After that, it was many more hours in the edit suite to cut everything together, add music, color correct, sweeten the audio and add graphics.
What is not quantifiable is the feeling we get when our film generates discussion and, hopefully, a greater understanding of a difficult time in our country's history. There's also no number to express my gratitude for all who worked on this project. It's a long process to create a documentary, and it takes a great team to take it from an idea to a reality. Ours was no different. When the film becomes publicly available in a couple of months, please sit through the credits. You'll see how many talented people were involved in every aspect.
I like the coordinated synergy. For my doco, I did almost everything myself and paid for it all, but in the end, I know I could not have the success I worked for if I had done it all by myself. It was a life's work, showing how I had a great life doing it. Not bad for a budget of a smile and a dime.
Today, I received a short video shot during the dedication of my combat gear to the Smithsonian's NASM. Here it is, just for fun. I'm performing the first verse of the song I wrote for the NASM dedication of the smoke generator I located, purchased, and donated. Instead of being in the door of…